In November 1996, I was present at the graduation service of the Bible Institute in the notorious Bellavista prison, Medellin. One of the graduates should have been Juan Carlos Londono, former right-hand man of the infamous drug baron, Pablo Escobar (killed by police in Medellin in December 1993). However, Juan Carlos had been murdered inside the prison several weeks earlier. It was deeply moving to see his wife, Gloria, also now a Christian, receive the diploma on his behalf, and to hear her poignant words.
Below are three items translated from the Spanish that show the tremendous work that God did in this 'Mr Badman' and which he has been doing for a number of years through the prison ministry of the Seminario Biblico de Colombia, led by Jeannine Brabon, Lacides Hernandez and Oscar Osorio.
May God use this rare material to renew our visions!
Robin Dowling
Testimony of Juan Carlos Londono given from Bellavista prison, Medellin, Colombia, in July 1995
I was a young man who lived in the world and for the things of the world. I come from a poor family consisting of my parents, a sister and a brother. They brought me up the best they could but, as I was growing, I had my eyes on the things of the world that attracted me.
I left my studies when I was in the first year of secondary school in order to get a job. When I was still a youngster, I began working with my father in two public institutions. I went on lusting after the pleasures of the world and I was friends with many people who lived for this world's delights. I joined a gang of common criminals and began to rob well-off people, because it wasn't a sin to rob the rich! I thought that I ought not to steal from any poor person, neither was I then involved in killing.
No mercy
All this was the craftiness of the devil, in order to trap me; I went downhill until I started killing people. Afterwards, I got into 'higher things' until I reached the level of organised crime! I had the makings of a wrongdoer who showed no forgiveness or compassion or mercy towards anybody.
My life was empty and I never found delight either in what I got or in what I lusted after. I went on without scruple, but in anxiety, bitterness, envy, ambition - better said, in hell.
Blessing of prison
God gave me a chance by sending me to prison - what a blessing! There I came to know that God loved me so much that he gave his only begotten Son to die for my sins (John 3.16). I began to study the Word of God and to grow spiritually.
A year after having accepted Jesus Christ as my Saviour, I was put to the test: they killed my brother. This was so painful for me because I loved him with all my heart and he was my only brother, the youngest in the family. When I received the news, the first thought I had, in the midst of deep pain and sorrow, was: 'Lord, be merciful to those sinners who took my brother's life, just as you were to me.' The Lord gave me the strength to bear this trial and many others.
Do not take revenge
On that occasion, the devil clearly revealed himself in various visitors who told me that they knew who the persons were who had been involved in my brother's death; they were expecting that I would authorise them to take vengeance. But the Lord, in his Holy Word, says to us: 'Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath' (Romans 12.19).
God strengthened me and each day I sought more of him. I felt that inner peace that our Lord Jesus Christ gives and my faith in the Lord grew each day. I prepared myself for baptism in line with the Word of God, which says: 'Repent, and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.' (Acts 2.38). I was baptised on October 12 1994, in the chapel of the Bellavista National Prison, Medellin, by pastor Oscar Osorio (a former criminal and inmate) who referred to Matthew 28.19, which says: 'Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.'
Come to Christ
My life has been marvellous: I have a home, a wife, and a daughter who is two today [the day he gave this testimony]. Together we seek to please God.
Now I am a detainee, but I feel truly free in Christ Jesus. I want to say to those who have not yet come to know our Lord Jesus Christ that they should do so! Because he is the only one who can give us peace and liberty. If I have found true freedom, being in this prison, you can find it wherever you live!
The day he died
By Jeannine C. Brabon of OMS, initiator of the work in Bellavista
At 1.00 pm on October 10 1996, Eliasib Cotera, a Seminary student, called on me and I sent him in a taxi to the prison of the judicial district of Medellin (Bellavista). He arrived there and went in as usual to teach his Thursday class in the Bible Institute (the teaching 'arm' of the Seminario Biblico in Bellavista). Nothing had prepared him for what he was going to meet in the passage in front of the judicial offices.
Bible in hand
Moments before his arrival at 1.45pm, Juan Carlos Londono went through the same open passage towards the prison chapel to attend his class along with his companions. Suddenly, he was confronted by a (fellow) prisoner, who shot him twice in the face. He fell onto the rough cement, the victim of an untimely death.
When Eliasib arrived, he stood paralysed, recognising the Bible that the hand on the floor held. It was Juan Carlos, our beloved friend and brother - a prince among men who humbly served the rest as chapel leader.
Marriage and service
The supreme desire of Juan Carlos was to know and serve his beloved Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. As he had said recently: 'I and my house we will serve the Lord!' On the Monday, with an enormous smile, he had told me about the Christian marriage ceremony with Gloria that took place in the chapel on October 4. Although they had been married by the state, they now wanted God's blessing on their union and the home that God had given them. On Sunday October 6, he had fun with his little daughter, Daniela, just three years old. So great was the love that God had poured on this precious family that they reflected it to everyone around them.
Gloria dreamt of Juan being an 'apostle', since the change in him was so radical that, through his life by itself, she had arrived at Jesus' feet. Also, he encouraged her to serve the Lord and, in fact, Gloria is taking the gospel to the women's prison, el Buen Pastor.
How could God shatter such sublime dreams so early?
The guard and the prisoner
Although the media reports underlined the death of Juan Carlos Londono as a notorious member of the Medellin drug cartel, they did not fail to mention that he had been converted to the gospel. What the world outside didn't realise was the impact of his Christian life.
When I entered the jail on Friday October 11, I stopped in front of prison area 12, where Juan Carlos had lived his last years. I called out to Ramiro, one of his companions, also a servant of the Lord. Just like the rest of us, he was distressed. However, he went on to tell me the following. A prison guard had looked for him (Ramiro), taken him from his prison area and opened up to him. He confessed: 'I'm fed up and I've often wanted to commit suicide. But, on observing your lives [those of the Christian prisoners], I see something different. I can't get out of my mind how Juan Carlos died, nor the peace that shone in his face. You people live and die in an outstanding way. Why?'
They talked and Ramiro encouraged him. Imagine that! An inmate with his heart recently shattered by the death of his brother and friend, counselling a prison guard! Deeply moved, the armed official said to him: 'This challenges me to live!'
Widow's concern
That evening, I spoke with Gloria, Juan's wife, and, of course, she felt deeply wounded. 'It's so hard and painful to see him die in such a cruel way. But, blessed be God, Juan died in Christ and not in his life of wickedness! What a present from heaven! Juan sowed a very great seed in me, he sowed the seed of eternal life. I also desire to be faithful in sowing it in others.'
Then she added: 'Do you know, although I must wait for the right moment, I have an ambition to take a Bible to the convict who killed my husband. I don't want that soul to be lost. I know that Juan would want that the young man should also receive the same forgiveness that he himself had received from God.' In the depth of grief, this widow poured out divine forgiveness on the one who had taken her most loved treasure. Could it be because the Lord is her eternal treasure, and wherever her heart is, there will be her treasure?
What glorious eternal moments they are which transcend the deepest earthly pain! (Romans 14.7-9).
